Improvement in the modes of laying pipes across rivers



dbtted tatr parte anni.

Letters Patent No. 111,498, dated January 31, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODES` oF I AvINe PIPEs AcRoss RIVERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters' Patent and making parl: of the same.

I, JOHN FROTHINGHAM WARD, of Jersey Oity, county oi' Hudson, State of' New Jersey, have invented a Mode ot` Laying Pipes Across Rivers,"

Oreeks, Src., of which the following is a specification. Nature and Object of the Invention..

My invention consists of a mode or process, too fully explained hereafter to need preliminary explanation, of laying pipes across rivers, creeks, &c., with facility and at comparatively little expense.

Description of. thc Accompanying Drawing.

Figure l is ajvertical section of the cradle and a side view ofene ofthe barges by which my invention is carriedinto effect; n

Figure 2, an end view of g. 1; and

Figure 3, a sectional view of the pipe-joint, illustrating a modified plan of laying light pipes of small diameter.

General Description.. V

In ligs. -1 and 2,-A and A represent two barges floating in a river or creek, of which the line B represents the surfaceof the water and D thebed.

Ihc pipes to be laidon the bed ofV the river or creek haveA ball-and-socket or other flexible joints. They may be made, for instance, in accordance with the patent granted to me on August 25, 1863, antedated July 15, 1863, in which the joints are of the ball-and-socket character, with a leaden packing, and admit of considerable deflection from a right line in laying'the pipes on an irregular surface.

Between the two barges A and A is suspended, by chains a, a, acradle, E, of wood or iron, the lower end extending to the bed of the river and the upper end projecting above the surface of the water.

In iig. l a'nuinber of lengths of pipe, M M, connected together with ball-'and-socket joints, is shown as resting partly on thet bed of the river and partly on the cradleE, the end of. the highest pipe projecting above the surface of` the water, and the barges being properly anchored so as to resist the tendency of the pipes on the cradle toforce the said barges and cradle in the direction of the arrow. By suitable shears on the barges another length of pipe is hoistedand the end adjusted tothe socket ol' the highest pipe on the cradle, and the joint is completed, after which-'the barges are loosened from their anchorage and permitted to float in the direction of thearrow until another lengthv is4 deposited on the bed oi' the' river, and the greater portion of the last length added issnbmerged, its socket only remaining above water, when the barges are again anchored prior to the addition ot' another length. rlhus length after length is added, the barges and the cradle receding from the shore where the first length was laid until they arrive at the opposite shore, leaving behind them a continuous pipe consisting of lengths coupled together so that the pipe can accommodate itself to the irregnlar'snrface of the bed' ot' the river or creek.

It may be remarked here that I have laid a line 'of thirtysix-inch pipe across the Hackensack river, according to the above plan, at ajnuch less expense than pipes conldbe laid` by the plans heretofore adopted, and that I am now engaged 'in laying across the river Schuylkill, at Philadelphia, a pipe thirty-six inches in diameter by' the same plan.' l

The cradle E may be made in different ways. In

the drawing it is illustrated as consisting of two main beams, b b', connected together by transverse bars Z (l, to which is secured a central board, (shown by dot- -ted lines in iig. 2,) on `which the pipes bear, while they are steadied laterally by the two main beams.

I have found that in laying pipes of small diame-v the said spherical socket, which is so formed as to arrest the pipe when it has been deflected to a given distance from a right line. v

rIhus it will be seen, on referring to iig. 3, that the pipe M cannot be dedected in the direction of the arrow beyond the point shown, owing toits coming in contact with the edge a: ot' the socket of the length M. l v

In laying pipes of small bore I simply lower -them over the stern of a barge, as Vshown by dotted lines in tig.'1, adding. length after length, and causing the barge to recede after each `joint is completed.

r'lhe lengths extending from the bed ofthe river to the barge will sustain themselves at 2i curvature determined by the contact. of one lengthwith the socket ofthe adjacent length without lthe 'aid of a cradle to support them and without danger of fracture, owing to the comparative lightness of the` pipes. Vhen' the latterexceed eight inches in diameter, however, it is advisable to use a cradlc'in the manner described.

connectingtogether length after length on ai barge In testimony whereof I have signed my name to or other Hoa-ting object, lowering the lengths therethis specification in the presence of two subscribing from, permitting one length to come in Contact with witnesses.

the socket of .the adjoining length, and causing the JOHNF. VARD. barge to recede as the lengths are added, all as set forth. Witnesses z l 2. A barge or barges or other floating structure, LUTHER S. ELMER, provided with a, cradle, and otherwise constructed, for FRANK DAVIS.

laying pipes, substantially as described. 

